One Apple A Day #739 - the unheard parts
"The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth."
African proverb
I read this proverb a few days ago in a post about the riots in the States.
I thought it was a powerful perspective on what was happening. And it still is.
However, since the first moment I read those words, I felt there was something more in it, something speaking from and to a deeper place in me. I just couldn't figure out what it was.
Until yesterday, when I stepped in the space created by my friend Vanessa and there it was.
If I replace the word "child" with "gift" or "need" and I recognise that I am the village, then it makes utter sense.
At least to me.
What are the gifts that I have and that I'm not embracing? What are the needs that I'm not paying attention to? What are the parts that the whole is ignoring?
It's time to pay attention, to listen, to embrace.
Before the unheard parts burn down the whole.